Diamond and Silk, two YouTube personalities who serve as surrogates for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, promoted his candidacy in an interview with neo-Nazi and Trump supporter John Friend. Friend believes the Holocaust is "one of the most egregious and outrageous falsehoods ever perpetrated," "Jews Did 9/11," and Adolf Hitler was "the greatest thing that's happened to Western civilization."

Diamond And Silk Are Trump Surrogates Who Frequently Appear At His Rallies

Diamond And Silk Are YouTube Personalities. According to their website, Lynette "Diamond" Hardaway and Rochelle "Silk" Richardson "are biological sisters from North Carolina standing with the silent majority. As African American women they are voicing their opinions about media bias, political babble, and repetitive political tactics that they feel the average American is tired of being subjected to." They have labeled their act "Stump for the Trump." [DiamondAndSilkInc.com, accessed 3/24/16]

Diamond And Silk Are Trump Surrogates. Timenoted that "Trump's rallies often feature appearances by a pair of women who go by the names Diamond and Silk, whose spirited endorsement of Trump on YouTube has been watched by nearly 100,000 people -- as many as tune in to some cable news shows." During a January event, Trump said that Diamond and Silk are "two of my friends" who have "become very famous and very rich." He added that "these two are unbelievable." The following are several images of them at various Trump rallies:

Diamond And Silk Have Appeared In The Media Promoting Trump. Diamond and Silk have appeared in media outlets like CNN, Fox News, and Fox Business to promote Trump's candidacy. [CNN.com, 8/11/15, 8/21/15, 2/23/16; FoxNews.com, 3/20/16; YouTube.com, 1/8/16]

Diamond And Silk Promoted Trump In Interview With Trump Supporter John Friend For American Free Press

Diamond And Silk Did Approximately 18-Minute Interview With John Friend For American Free Press. Diamond and Silk participated in a March 23 American Free Press (AFP) audio interview in which they promoted Trump's candidacy. They were described as "two of the more outspoken and enthusiastic supporters of Donald J. Trump." [American Free Press, 3/23/16, 3/23/16]

Diamond And Silk And Friend Repeatedly Praised Trump Campaign. Diamond and Silk used the AFP interview to tout Trump's candidacy. Friend wrote in his recap of the interview:

Trump "resonates with me, with us, 100%," Ms. Richardson told AFP. "The things that he talks about that need to happen to help get this country out of this economic crisis is something that I do not hear from the rest. He's talking common sense instead of politics, and he resonates with me 100%."

Ms. Hardaway echoed Ms. Richardson's thoughts.

"I'm supporting Donald Trump because he wants to secure the border, he wants to bring back our jobs so we can thrive again, and he wants to bring back spirit by uniting this country," she explained.

Ms. Richardson continued: "People are tired of being under- or unemployed. We need to bring back good jobs, opportunities for people to be gainfully employed. People are tired of his divide in our country. It's time to bring back spirit, it's time to unite. Remember, this is the United States, not the Divided States, so it's time for us to come together."

Diamond and Silk also promoted their website DitchandSwitchNow.com, which tells people how to "SWITCH to Republican Party to vote for Mr. Donald J. Trump in the primaries." [American Free Press, 3/23/16; DiamondAndSilkInc.com, accessed 3/24/16]

Diamond And Silk Used Interview To Bash Undocumented Immigrants. During the interview, Diamond and Silk repeatedly bashed undocumented immigrants, with Friend agreeing with their remarks:

DIAMOND: These people been in office for years and haven't done anything. They are OK with illegal people running in our country, and we don't even know these people.

SILK: Exactly.

DIAMOND: If you're going to come into this country, come in this country legally.

[...]

SILK: But you have people coming across that border illegally and they're able to get housing, food, clothes, medical, you know, how fair is that to the American people that's here working day and night?

[...]

JOHN FRIEND: We not only have millions of illegal immigrants in our country, you know, draining our resources, they're also organizing and marching in the streets of Washington, D.C., demanding citizenship, demanding --

DIAMOND: You know what? Why don't they march in their own country for those rights? Don't come over here and march for those rights, because you don't even belong in this country. You're in here illegally. March for those rights in your own country, that's what they should be doing.

SILK: That's right.

DIAMOND: Don't march for them over here because it's time for the American people to be taken care of. It's time for somebody to look out for the American people and that's what we love about Donald Trump. [American Free Press, 3/23/16]

Friend Praised Diamond And Silk For Getting "The Truth Out About What's Going On In America Today." [American Free Press, 3/23/16]

Friend Regularly Expresses Support For Trump, Attended Trump Rally. Friend's Twitter account biography features the hashtags #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, #Trump2016, #AlwaysTrump. He recently attended a Trump rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, and "had to purchase a Make America Great Again hat." He wrote of Trump: "Trump has truly touched the hearts of millions of Americans across this nation. His public policy positions are rock solid, particularly when it comes to immigration, which is, in my opinion, the only issue that really matters in this upcoming election." [Twitter.com, accessed 3/24/16; The Realist Report, 12/17/15]

John Friend Believes Hitler Was "The Greatest Thing That's Happened To Western Civilization"

John Friend Works For The American Free Press, An Anti-Semitic Publication. John Friend produces content for The American Free Press. The Southern Poverty Law Center has written that the American Free Press is an "anti-Semitic weekly" that "was founded by Holocaust denier Willis Carto." The Anti-Defamation League wrote that the publication is "an anti-Semitic conspiracy-oriented news­pa­per" that attracts "the most vitriolic anti-Semites." [Southern Poverty Law Center, 7/15/11, Anti-Defamation League, 6/1/15, 10/30/15]

ADL: John Friend Is A "Vir­u­lent Anti-Semite And Holo­caust Denier." The Anti-Defamation League wrote of Friend:

It is not clear if North knew about Friend's anti-Semitism but even a cur­sory look at Friend's work would have revealed his extreme views. Friend has writ­ten numer­ous anti-Semitic arti­cles for AFP and on his per­sonal web­site. His home­page con­tains quotes from Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels. In a May 2013 arti­cle on his web­site, Friend wrote, "The arro­gance, deceit, and treach­ery of the orga­nized Jew­ish com­mu­nity knows no bounds. Adolf Hitler was quite cor­rect when he described the Jews as hav­ing an 'unqual­i­fied capac­ity for false­hood.'" In a March 2013, article, Friend called the Holo­caust a "fake narrative."

In March 2013, Friend also announced the cre­ation of the Amer­i­can Nation­al­ist Asso­ci­a­tion (ANA), a group which "aims to develop and advance the inter­ests of tra­di­tional White Amer­ica." ANA's state­ment of prin­ci­ples also reveals Friend's anti-Semitism. The state­ment urges peo­ples of Euro­pean ances­try to "Expose and reject all forms of Com­mu­nism, Cul­tural Marx­ism, Inter­na­tional Zion­ism, Glob­al­ism, Multi-Culturalism, and all Un-American rack­ets, frauds and orga­ni­za­tions, includ­ing Usury and Inter­na­tional Finance Capitalism." [Anti-Defamation League, 12/24/13]

Friend Was Forced Out Of Government Job After Officials "Learned He Operates An Anti-Semitic Website." The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote that Friend "was forced out of his job this week after city officials learned he operates an anti-Semitic website and is active in a movement that blames Jews for the 9/11 terror attacks":

A 29-year-old clerical employee in the Escondido City Manager's Office was forced out of his job this week after city officials learned he operates an anti-Semitic website and is active in a movement that blames Jews for the 9/11 terror attacks.

Poway resident John Friend was hired by Escondido about three months ago as a division coordinator, which is responsible for a variety of administrative duties in the City Manager's Office including supervising support staff and helping develop office policies and procedures, according to the city's website.

City officials said they were unaware at the time that Friend is an outspoken blogger and contributor to several white supremacist publications. [The San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/10/15]

Headline On Friend's Website: "Jews Did 9/11 - John Friend Booed For Telling The Truth." The post embeds a YouTube video of him holding a sign claiming Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks. [The Realist Report, 10/28/15]

Friend Has Praised "'White Christian Patriots' Such As Adolf Hitler And Joseph Goebbels." The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that "Friend told a reporter he finds 'inspiration and guidance from America's Founding Fathers' as well as 'white Christian patriots' such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels":

Friend told a reporter he finds "inspiration and guidance from America's Founding Fathers" as well as "white Christian patriots" such as Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels.

[...]

On his website, therealistreport.com, Friend posts stories that assert, among other things, that the Holocaust is a false and inaccurate interpretation of history made up by the Jewish-dominated media, and that the 9/11 attacks were orchestrated by the Israel government to create the international war on terrorism.

In a blog post five months ago, he said "The huge numbers of 'holocaust survivors' -- well into the hundreds of thousands still today -- are undeniable proof that the extermination claims are a hoax... The Nazis kept them alive as best they could under nearly impossible circumstances. The real mass murderers were the western Allies."

In his email to the Union-Tribune, Friend said he considers himself a white Christian American patriot who finds philosophical and intellectual inspiration from America's Founding Fathers.

"I have also researched and studied a number of important, yet completely marginalized and in many cases demonized, White Christian patriots including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, George Lincoln Rockwell (the founder of the American Nazi Party... and many others." [The San Diego Union-Tribune, 9/10/15]

Friend: Hitler Was "The Greatest Thing That's Happened To Western Civilization." Friend made his views clear about Hitler during a December 2015 interview, claiming that "an objective look" at Hitler's deeds proved that "this man and his movement were the greatest thing that's happened to western civilization":

JOHN FRIEND: If you take an objective look at what he did, what he was all about, the policies that he implemented and championed, and really the philosophy that he championed, and what national socialism was all about, I think if you take an objective look at that, you will recognize that this man and his movement were the greatest thing that's happened to Western civilization. He was the greatest leader in Western civilization, at least in a modern context. I don't think there's any doubt about that. I mean, he clearly identified the Jewish problem. Explained it to the German people, he clearly identified many other problems, and told the truth in a big time way and really was educating people and, you know, gathered a dedicated group of guys to really change things and revitalize Germany.

And, I mean, I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think he has been entirely slandered by the organized Jewish community, by the Allies, by the institutionalization of this, really, it's a fake story, you know, this alleged Holocaust that we're, you know, told that happened all the time. It's in the movies, it's in our schools, it's in our textbooks, I mean it's a story that is endlessly emphasized and reinstilled, and reinforced, and perpetuated, and it's just not true. [The Brian Ruhe Show, 12/18/15, via YouTube]

Friend: The Holocaust "Is One Of The Most Egregious And Outrageous Falsehoods Ever Perpetrated Against Mankind." Friend wrote on his website of the book, The Holocaust Hoax Exposed: Debunking the 20th Century's Biggest Lie:

The alleged "Holocaust" of 6 million Jews at the hands of Adolf Hitler and National Socialist Germany during WWII is one of the most egregious and outrageous falsehoods ever perpetrated against mankind. Deceitful Jewish propagandists and their lackeys in the educational establishment, media, and Hollywood have foisted upon the world a completely baseless, manufactured narrative, chock full of a wide variety of ridiculous claims and impossible events, all to advance the Jewish agenda of world domination and subjugation.

The official "Holocaust" story has been used to justify the very existence of the criminal, terrorist Jewish state occupying Palestine, garner public sympathy for Jews and elevate "Jewish suffering" above all others, and to reinforce the false narrative of historical Jewish persecution at the hands of "evil, irrational anti-Semites" who hate Jews. Organized Jewry has used the false "Holocaust" story to seize and distort our collective history for their corrupt ends, to demonize Adolf Hitler and National Socialist Germany specifically, and nationalism and European civilization generally. It is, without a doubt, the Big Lie of the 20th century. [The Realist Report, 8/2/15]

Trump Campaign Has Had Troubling Interactions With White Nationalists

Trump's Campaign Has Had Troubling Interactions With White Nationalist Movement. Trump's presidential campaign has received support from numerous white nationalist groups and leaders who have used his campaign to recruit followers, raise money, and spread their message. Trump has retweeted white nationalists, repeatedly declined to denounce former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke in an interview, and gave press credentials to a white nationalist figure who also interviewed Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr. [Media Matters, 3/1/16, 3/17/16]

Trump Insider Roger Stone Dedicated His Book To Anti-Semitic AFP Writer. Roger Stone worked for the Trump campaign and currently heads the pro-Trump Committee to Restore America's Greatness PAC. He wrote the book The Clintons' War on Women, which is dedicated to and repeatedly cites research from Victor Thorn. Thorn writes for AFP, blames a "Jewish Plot Against America" for the September 11, 2011, attacks, and wrote the book Holocaust Hoax. Stone also promoted his anti-Clinton book in a AFP interview with Thorn. [Media Matters, 11/13/15]

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